Along with the few routes running earlier today, Great Western Railway is now resuming, external , externallimited services on the following lines:

• London Paddington - Bristol Temple Meads
• London Paddington - South Wales
• London Paddington - Cheltenham

Trains between London Paddington and Devon and Cornwall are still suspended. The railway company warns not to travel on this route.

The line between Bedwyn and Taunton is still closed. Services between Exeter and Barnstaple, and Exeter and Okehampton, are also closed.

You can use tickets for today's Great Western Railway services on trains tomorrow and Wednesday, including peak-time trains and customers are urged to check before travelling.

Mark Poynting
Climate and environment researcher

Image source, Reuters

Met Office observations suggest there has been an increase in the number of very wet days in the UK over the last few decades, although rainfall patterns can vary a lot from year to year.

This trend is expected to continue with climate change.

As a result, scientists have long warned that the UK needs to get better prepared for more extreme weather in a warming world.

Floods aren’t only affected by the amount of rainfall. Inadequate flood defences and building in the wrong places, for example, can increase the risk of heavy rain leading to flooding.

But the government hasn’t maintained enough of its existing flood defences or built enough new ones, a cross-party committee of MPs warned earlier this year. A lack of funding has been a key issue.

In September, the new government announced it had launched a Floods Resilience Taskforce, with the aim of improving preparations for extreme weather.

Image source, Getty Images

We've just heard from the deputy first minister of Wales, who was speaking to BBC Radio 4's World at One programme about his government's flood response.

Huw Irranca-Davies was asked about the efficacy of flood alerts and warnings in Wales - something his government has been criticised for in recent hours by residents of flood-hit communities - and whether there is a need to examine them.

"I think there probably is," he says, adding that Natural Resources Wales, the agency responsible for issuing warnings, has one of the most advanced flood alert warnings available.

"But the question here is was [the warning system] sensitive enough to really rapid river rises."

He adds that it's worth looking into the time between when the alert and warning is hoisted and when the community starts preparing for the floods.

"I'd be keen to see what we can do better on that," he says.

Irranca-Davies also adds that extreme weather events, which were once described as "one in 100", are now becoming more frequent and suggests that there may be a need to "think differently" about how we address them going forward.

Nicky Schiller
Reporting from Pontypridd

Image source, Getty Images

I'm in Pontypridd in South Wales, which was badly hit by the flooding over the weekend. I'm typing this in the local library and right by me a group are discussing the floods.

I visited one of the streets that was inundated with water from the River Taff and residents were clearing up. Some had managed to put some sand bags out.

I spoke to Ray Wilkins, who has lived here for 12 years and who's home was flooded back in 2020. He was angry, like others, at what they see as the lack of warnings from Natural Resources Wales.

Wilkins told me that when he did get a warning on the app, the water was already in the street and the cars were swamped.

He was also concerned about the drains in the area. His plea to the authorities "do something about the drains, give us a chance".

Natural Resources Wales told the BBC earlier that it will carry out an investigation into if the warnings were sufficient.

Image source, PA Media

Environment Secretary Steve Reed says the government is "ready" to offer further support to Welsh communities worst hit by the flooding.

Reed says Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has spoken to the First Minister of Wales and offered "additional support if they need it in Wales".

"So far, they haven't said that they need that," he adds.

He says the government has set up a Floods Resilience Taskforce, which is to ensure agencies on the ground in affected areas are able to "offer whatever support they can".

Simon King
BBC weather presenter and meteorologist

There has been criticism about the severity of warnings issued by the Met Office and flooding warnings issued, specifically in south Wales.

Some feel that amber warnings should have been issued to highlight the severity of the weather and flooding expected.

While the Met Office and Natural Resources Wales will have to respond directly to their warnings issued, the forecast for Storm Bert was actually quite accurate.

Forecasters had been highlighting the potential for a named storm with heavy rain, snow and strong winds earlier in the week on our BBC TV, radio and online coverage.

Image source, PA Media

By Wednesday morning, the first yellow warnings were issued by the Met Office. Rain warnings for Wales and south-west England specifically mentioned the possibility of 100-150mm of rain over higher ground.

It stated that homes and businesses were at risk of flooding.

On Thursday, Storm Bert was named and by naming storms, the Met Office and partners hope to increase the communication of the forecast and impacts around a storm.

Coverage of Storm Bert - with the forecast and updates to warnings - continued throughout the weekend.

Official rainfall totals from Storm Bert matched those forecasts from Wednesday morning with 134mm in Libanus, near the Brecon Beacons and 114mm in Oakhampton on the northern edge of Dartmoor.

A severe flood warning is in place for River Nene in Northamptonshire for the Billing Aquadrome, which is a holiday park, and nearby business parks - this warning means there's danger to life.

The county has been experiencing disruption today, including on its railways and to the A5.

Earlier today, Northamptonshire Police warned people against "all unnecessary travel" while flooding is still happening.

Here's a look at how residents are managing:

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

As we reported earlier, footage of a tractor seen driving through the flooded streets of Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire, is now being investigated by police.

Waves caused by the tractor hit shop windows and broke them, which then triggered an angry reaction online.

Here's another video of the scene, which shows the moment one shop door was forcibly pushed open during the vehicle's drive down the flooded streets on Sunday.

More now on the flooding in Tenbury Wells where a flood wall collapsed, sending water gushing into the streets of the Worcestershire town.

Harriet Baldwin, the MP for West Worcestershire, says it is "absolutely devastating" that Tenbury Wells was "hit yet again by floods".

Baldwin says she has been campaigning "relentlessly" to try and get funding for a flood defence scheme designed to protect the town.

"We’ve made progress in so many other places, Upton upon Severn, Bewdley, but we really do need to protect Tenbury Wells and Severn Stoke," she tells BBC Hereford & Worcester.

Baldwin adds that she is looking to find out what immediate support is available for flooded properties.

Image source, Getty Images

As the clean-up after the storm begins, navigating what comes next might feel daunting.

Insurance cover and compensation can vary depending on the storm's impact - and the small print in your policy.

Some automatic protection may be in place.

My home or business premises is flooded. What should I do?

Safety is the key priority, so residents and business owners and their employees should only return to the property when it is safe to do so.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) says most home buildings, contents and commercial business policies cover storm damage.

Commercial policies cover damage to premises and stock. Business interruption cover, which may be included or purchased separately as part of an insurance agreement, will cover additional trading costs.

• Find out more about whether you have to go to work, compensation if your power was cut and what to do if your flight was cancelled

Helen Willetts
BBC Weather

There is now another Met Office warning for rain, valid until midnight tonight for western Scotland - the earlier wind warning has now expired.

In this area another 50-70mm (2-3in) of rain is likely, more so over the hills, and combined with melting snow there is the risk of flooding.

• Stay across all of BBC Weather's latest flood warnings

Storm Bert formed as a low pressure system over the Atlantic and rapidly turned into a devastating storm off the west coast of the UK.

Here’s a look at how Bert tracked across the Atlantic before hitting the country at the weekend.

Image source, PA Media

1. Some 140 flood warnings are in place, with a severe flood warning, external - meaning danger to life - issued for areas next to the River Nene in Northampton.

2. Rail disruption: most affected areas are on routes between the west of England and London, and many services in Wales. Take a look at our latest update on the rail disruption, and you can check your railway journey on National Rail's website

3. Storm movements: Storm Bert is still dominating the weather across Scotland today, and will track eastwards throughout the day.

Stick with us this afternoon as we bring you the latest updates on the disruption today caused by Storm Bert.

Laura Jones has a crafts shop in Tenbury Wells, an area of Worcestershire which has been severely affected by Storm Bert.

She tells BBC 5 Live Breakfast how she and her husband were "desperately" trying to protect their shop from the floods, but were forced to leave after hearing firemen tell them to "get out".

Today, surveying the damage, they're not sure what's next.

"Everything’s been wiped out this time," she says. This isn't the first time their business has been damaged from flooding. Six weeks ago, the same thing happened.

"Because we can’t have insurance, we had to put £2,500 of our own money into stock to restock the shop and we’ve got another £1,000 of stock to be paid for and now it’s all gone and there’s no way we can do it out of our own money again," she says.

"Business is totally finished, flooding has wiped us out one too many times."

Jones's husband was due to retire next year, and she says she was planning on using the crafts shop to keep going until she retired soon after - but now that dream's gone.

"This is the end sadly," Jones says, adding that the pair are now "living hour by hour".

Image source, Reuters

If your train has been delayed or cancelled this morning, you're not alone - many services in Wales, western England, and to-and-from London have been affected by this weekend's storm.

Here's a look at what some of those operators are saying you can do with your tickets:

South Western Railway

If your train is delayed by 15 minutes or more, you could be entitled to claim compensation through South Western Railway's Delay Repay scheme., external

Great Western Railway

Tickets for many of its delayed trains today will be accepted on Great Western Railway's services tomorrow, including on peak-time trains - but if you decide to no longer use your train ticket you could claim a refund., external

West Midlands Railway

Compensation can be claimed on West Midlands Railways services that have been delayed by at least 15 minutes., external

Greater Anglia

Journeys on Greater Anglia that are delayed by 15 minutes or more can claim for compensation. , external

You'll be able to travel on earlier or later services if you have an advance ticket on a cancelled service between Liverpool Street and Stansted Airport, Liverpool Street and Cambridge or Cambridge North, Stratford and Bishops Stortford, and Stratford and Meridian Water.

Transport for Wales (TfW)

Tickets on its services today can be used tomorrow and ticket acceptance on other train operators may be available, but passengers should check TfW's website, external before travel.

You could also claim compensation, external if one of TfW's services is delayed or cancelled and you arrive at your destination more than 15 minutes later than scheduled. Refunds are available if you decided not to travel because of a delay or cancellation.

Railways across the country have been impacted by Storm Bert.

Here's what you need to know about the situation facing major rail networks:

• Heavy flooding has affected many Great Western Railway services today, with the train operator warning that it is running "limited services", external
• Greater Anglia has said that there will be no services from Liverpool Street to Stansted Airport, Liverpool Street to Cambridge or Cambridge North, Stratford to Bishops Stortford, and Stratford to Meridian Water until about 17:00 GMT
• Flooding at Northampton has caused "severe disruption", external to London Northwestern Railway's services across the Birmingham - Northampton - London Euston route and between Crewe - Rugby - London Euston
• Avanti West Coast says flooding has also affected its services through Northampton, with many of its other services experiencing some delays today, including its Macclesfield and Stoke-on-Trent trains

• Transport for Wales says its rail services will be subject to "ongoing disruption", external today, with some affected services offering "limited rail replacement capacity"
• Services for Northern Rail between Lancaster and Barrow-In-Furness have been cancelled due to heavy flooding causing the railway lines to close
• West Midlands Railway says flooding between Birmingham New Street and London Euston has resulted in fewer trains being able to run on that route
• There are travel restrictions on some ScotRail routes, causing "minor disruption", the train operator says

As a reminder, you can check your railway journey on National Rail's website., external

We're now hearing that Great Western Railway is now running limited train services after suspending key routes this morning.

In an update about its key routes, the railway says limited services are running to/from London and Swindon, Oxford and Newbury Racecourse.

It advises passengers to check before using its services in Devon and Cornwall.

Lines are blocked between Newbury Racecourse and Plymouth, as well as Bristol Temple Meads and Taunton. The railway warns not to travel on these routes.

The railway company says it's expecting to run limited services before noon on the following routes:

• London Paddington - Bristol Temple Meads
• London Paddington - South Wales
• London Paddington - Cheltenham

It urges people to check before travelling as it's monitoring flooding across its network.

Image source, Tor Ward

A high school in Evesham says one of its buses became stuck in floodwater this morning.

The BBC understands 57 children and the driver were rescued using two boats from Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service.

Prince Henry's High School says the bus "left the road and ended up in a ditch with floodwater around it".

"We have been informed by the police officer in charge at the scene that none of the students are injured, nobody requires first aid, and they are safe and well," the school's head teacher says.

The incident is believed to have happened on the B4080, near Eckington Bridge.

Helen Willetts
BBC Weather

The severe flood warnings have now been updated. The one on the river Nene in Northamptonshire remains in force, so a "Danger to life and risk of significant disruption" remains. However, the two in south-east Wales have been taken down by Natural Resources Wales.

Showers are still in the forecast today and tonight, a few may fall in these severely flooded areas. There is the likelihood of more persistent rain through Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning.

Computer forecast models are disagreeing on the path the next low pressure will take, the current model shows the southern half of England and south Wales seeing several more hours of rainfall on Tuesday night, bringing around 10 to 15mm widely.

If the low pressure system does head further north than predicted, snow over northern England might be an issue as well.

As it develops, a spell of strong winds is also forecast especially across eastern England.

Watch this space for updates.

Steve Knibbs
BBC West, Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire

Over the last couple of hours, it got really busy here: emergency services, highway teams coming here, fire crews.

A lot of the shops and businesses and residencies have basements, and they were flooded overnight.

So, water is being pumped out now. And also all the businesses are getting all their stock that has been destroyed out onto the streets so they can clear the silts and mud away - and that's one of the biggest problems here.

When the wall here collapsed yesterday that was protecting the water from the brook. It just flooded the whole of the town within 30 seconds. It was very dramatic.

I've been speaking to a couple of businesses in the past hour … they reckon they'll be open again for business tomorrow. There is a lot of resilience here. They are used to flooding.